Make Your Own Hanging Succulent Terrarium

Have you noticed these cute hanging succulent terrariums popping up in your favorite catalogs and decorating blogs? Don’t be fooled by their sleek design and beautiful colors, these are extremely simple to put together and are a great way to add plants to even the smallest spaces. Read on to learn how I make mine and how to maintain your plants.

Supplies. Keep it simple. All you need is some potting soil (less than 1 cup per globe), simple top dressing like these stones, succulent cuttings and your globe. The one that you see here is from CB2 and is actually in their catalog as “whirly hanging candle holder.” They are pretty cheap at $4.95 each and I love the flat bottom on the globe. I think this is interesting because they actually have a similar glass piece that they call the “hanging glass terrarium” that lists for $6.95. Obviously there are many places to get these and these are just a couple of options. If you think you will make several it certainly pays to do a little shopping before purchasing.

First step: Add soil. I know that it is tempting to add a lot of soil but trust me on this, less is more. I add between 1/2″ and 1″ of soil flat across the bottom. On this hanging globe you can see the opening dips fairly low so it is important the soil level is below that line so water can be added without spilling out. Regular potting soil will work really well for this project. You can see here that I opted for soil that didn’t have any perlite so that the little white pieces wouldn’t stand out but that is just personal preference.

Second step: Add plants. Plant selection is going to be key to the success of your hanging succulent terrarium. Even though your window may seem sunny to you, the light levels are actually much lower than outside so you want to make sure to select plants that will not get stretched out and lose their beautiful shape. Because we want these to last for several years, it also helps to make sure your plants will stay small so that they do not outgrow your globe. You can see a listing of some of the best succulent terrarium plants here. I went with Haworthia retusa, “Window Succulent,” because I already had a pot of it growing and it was easy to pull off three pups for this project. I prepped the cuttings but removing any soil and trimming the roots to about an inch in length. The few roots help to anchor the cutting and also make it very easy to stick right in the soil. I strongly recommend using cuttings for this purpose. You can use plants but in that case you will want to put the plants in the container and then add the soil around them– it is just more difficult.

Third and final step: Add top dressing. This is the stuff that kind of covers up your soil and also holds your plants in place while they start growing new roots. I chose a mix of smooth stones and some blue clay pendants that I found. I think seashells also look very cool and the possibilities are really endless on this. Pennies, sticks, glass pebbles, moss…

Watering and care. I water my hanging succulent globes by using a plastic cup that I can squeeze a little bit to pour in the opening. I water these about every two weeks but I know there are times when I’ve gone a month without watering and they are doing just fine. When watering, make sure to really saturate all of the soil.

Look at the color of the soil ato determine if you need to add a little bit more water to get rid of the dry air pockets. See the darker portion on the bottom? That area is nice and wet and is how you want the entire depth to look. It is a fine balance because you don’t want to submerge your plants; if you aren’t sure stop a little early and let the water soak in to the soil for a bit.

These fabulous little hanging succulent terrariums are so easy to make that you just might find yourself getting more to share with friends. My office feels so much better with some plants hanging above my computer!